On the other side of the argument, there probably weren't any signs of life. And if they didn't have the medical equipment to detect faint cellular activity or whatever, there probably wasn't the right medical equipment available to save her. Death was close in any case.

Isn't it still standard procedure to bury someone with a little bell above the grave? Connected to the casket, it allows the undead person to signal that they'd like to come out. At the very least, they should bury people with their phone so they could text somebody.

cgraves67:On the other side of the argument, there probably weren't any signs of life. And if they didn't have the medical equipment to detect faint cellular activity or whatever, there probably wasn't the right medical equipment available to save her. Death was close in any case.

Hold a wake, read the will, and try to get on with your lives.

Yeah, that's why we used to keep our dead in the living for a week or more--just to make sure they didn't get buried alive. But this sounds like the family was rushed into burial without being able to give the body a chance to show those definitive signs that it wasn't alive, the first signs of decay.....I would question the wisdom of that as well if they were without advanced death detection techniques. Of course, Granny probably didn't know one way or the other. But that is a bad thought to have to carry for the family.

cgraves67:And if they didn't have the medical equipment to detect faint cellular activity or whatever, there probably wasn't the right medical equipment available to save her. Death was close in any case.

Within 10 mi (straight line) of a handful of hospitals. My guess is the lady was dead dead, and no Miracle Max can bring you back from dead dead.